“They Are Not Criminals”: Jeremy Corbyn Speaks Out on Hunger Strikers Held Without Trial
Keir Starmer is prepared to let Palestine hunger strikers die
New leader says Unison will end support for ‘destructive’ Labour right wing
Blunt remarks indicate UK’s largest union may be on collision course with Wes Streeting and Labour more widely
The new general secretary of Unison has declared the trade union will end its support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party” and said any leadership election in 2026 should not swap Keir Starmer for Wes Streeting.
Andrea Egan, who won a decisive victory as a leftwing challenger this week, hit out at Streeting in an article for the Guardian over his handling of the resident doctors’ dispute, saying it was “simply unacceptable for a Labour politician to describe striking workers as morally reprehensible”.
She also called on Starmer to “act now” to stop Palestine solidarity campaigners having “to starve protesting for their basic rights”, in reference to the prisoners on hunger strike.
Her blunt remarks indicate that Unison, a leading union for health and social care workers, is on course for a collision with Streeting and Labour more widely over its approach to industrial action and the Middle East.
…
Egan suggested a Labour leadership contest was likely in 2026 and warned against the party backing Streeting.
“We will call time on our union’s inexcusable habit of propping up politicians who act against our interests, undermine our fundamental values and make our lives worse,” she said.
“Like colleagues across the movement, I have in recent weeks been appalled by Wes Streeting’s attacks on resident doctors and their union. It is simply unacceptable for a Labour politician to describe striking workers as ‘morally reprehensible’.”
…
Gaza civil defense continues search for bodies under rubble in Khan Younis
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Civil defense teams in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis are continuing efforts to recover the bodies of Palestinians trapped beneath rubble following Israeli attacks, as the Gaza Strip remains under blockade, Anadolu reports.
The bodies of those killed in the strikes and left buried under collapsed buildings throughout the war are being searched for by civil defense crews using heavy machinery.
Remains recovered after prolonged periods beneath the rubble, including dismembered body parts and bones, are being collected by the teams for later identification.
Israel has killed nearly 70,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 in Gaza since October 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
According to the latest data from Gaza’s Government Media Office, the conflict has resulted in the complete destruction of 268,000 housing units, with 148,000 severely damaged beyond habitability and 153,000 partially damaged.
A ceasefire agreement brokered between Hamas and Israel on October 10 of last year halted large-scale military operations. However, reports indicate that Israel continues demolitions in areas under its control, and the Israeli military has been accused of hundreds of violations of the agreement, including bombardments and killings.
READ: 30 bodies recovered from Palestinian family under destroyed home in Gaza
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
UN chief warns Gaza hunger gains are ‘fragile’ as 1.6M still face extreme food insecurity
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that while famine in the Gaza Strip has been averted, the humanitarian situation remains extremely fragile, with more than 75% of the population facing acute food insecurity and critical risks of malnutrition, Anadolu Agency reports.
“Famine has been pushed back. Far more people are able to access the food they need to survive,” Guterres told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. “Gains are fragile, perilously so.”
He said 1.6 million people in Gaza, more than 75% of the population, are projected to face “extreme levels of acute food insecurity and critical malnutrition risks.”
“And in more than half of Gaza, where Israeli troops remain deployed, farmland and entire neighborhoods are out of reach. Strikes and hostilities continue, pushing the civilian toll of this war even higher and exposing our teams to grave danger,” he said.
Guterres also renewed calls for “a durable ceasefire,” saying: “We need more crossings, the lifting of restrictions on critical items, the removal of red tape, safe routes inside Gaza, sustained funding, and unimpeded access, including for NGOs.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released its news findings on Friday, noting that famine conditions in the enclave have been temporarily offset following a reduction in hostilities and improved access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries. The latest report, however, warned that the overall situation in Gaza remains critical.
The UN chief also touched on Israel’s refusal to move onto the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan until the return of the remains of a final deceased hostage.
“It is essential to move to phase two, and I don’t think that we should have any pretext to avoid it,” said Guterres.
“It’s very important to move with the peace process as a whole. And it’s not only phase two. It’s to make sure that phase one, and namely the ceasefire, are fully implemented,” he added.
READ: Egypt, Russia stress need to sustain Gaza ceasefire agreement
ICJ ruling on occupied West Bank ‘must be implemented’
On the situation in the West Bank, Guterres warned that “we cannot lose sight of the rapidly deteriorating situation” in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
He stressed that Palestinians face “escalating Israeli settler violence, land seizures, demolitions and intensified movement restrictions.”
“Tens of thousands have been displaced following operations by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank,” he added.
Guterres emphasized that provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice “are binding and must be implemented.”
He also reaffirmed his support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), calling it “an indispensable role in serving the Palestinian people.”
Saying that the crisis in Palestine is “born of human decisions,” the UN chief urged for an end to “perverse and prolonged suffering.”
“Palestinians need a horizon of hope. The ceasefire must be implemented in full. The endless cycle of violence must be broken,” he said.
READ: WHO chief says over 10,600 patients evacuated from Gaza, warns many still waiting
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
